New Year's Eve Day

    I had to run some errands earlier today and of course I wanted to wear some of the things I bought yesterday.  Oh yea, forgot to tell you all, I went shopping yesterday.  I bought 5 dresses and 2 cardigans for about $100.  Yes, 7 lovely items for about $100 when at full price everything would have been about $375.  I kid you not.  I got very lucky in that I was able to find very cute stuff on super duper final sale.  I'll make sure to show you what I got soon, but I may not be wearing any of it for a while since next week I plan on staying in my pjs and not leaving my house.  I LOVE vacation!
    So this dress I got at a Hanes outlet.  There happens to be a Hanes outlet across the street from where I work.  Unfortunately they don't carry my bra size, but they do carry the "Just My Size" brand.  This is meant for plus size women.  For the most part, the clothes doesn't work for me because designers tend to believe that women with big boobs also are also large everywhere else.  As a result plus size clothing is built like tents that fit at the boobs and then go out from there.  That does not work for me.  I have a waist and plan on showing it.  Surprisingly, I was able to find this dress that fit me and showed that I have a waist.  I liked it so much that I got it in heather red and black.  My favorite part is that its not plain, but has a flower garden at the bottom of the skirt.  SO cute.  The astonishing part is the price.  It was $5.  Not a typo, yes FIVE DOLLARS.  It was on sale for $9.99 and they were running a special so that everything was an additional 50% off making it $5.  See what I mean about being lucky?  How have you done with post-Christmas/year-end sales?  

The Details:
Red Dress: Hanes  
Gray tights: L'eggs
Boots: Candie's
Black Tank: Old Navy

Today I feel:

Today I feel:

- confident -

- glamorous -

- chic -

- attractive -

- feminine -

- creative -

- fun -

- lucky -

- curvy -

- happy -

- in control -

The Details:

Red Jersey Cardigan: Just my size via Hanes outlet

Black tank: Old Navy

Black pencil skirt: Jones & Co. via Steinmart

Grey Microfiber tights: L'eggs via Hanes outlet

Black demi-heels: Nine West

Crystal heart necklace: Swarovski (present from my little sister) 

Black Ribbon: from another shirt

Twirling away

 

 Me: twirling my life away

    I was thinking about the picture above this morning while I was showering and how it somehow manages to symbolize the way I'm feeling right now.  I find it odd yet beautiful that only my face and parts of my feet  are in focus but the rest of me is floaty and up in the air.  I feel that way about life right now.  I know I've got my feet firmly planted to the ground, I'm grounded in reality, and I've got my head on straight, but everything else is up in the air.  You see, I'm big on making lists and planning things out.  I'm ok if things don't go according to plan, I don't freak out, but I like having a plan anyway, just in case.  But I'm just not able to make a plan right now.  Sure, there are inevitable things.  I will graduate in May.  I will spend my summer studying for the bar.  I'll take the bar exam in July and then. . .  Then everything gets hazy, like my arms in the picture.  I want so badly to say I will get married on X date and I'll be working at Y starting on Z date.  But I can't.  And that sucks.      

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

Shades of Gray (and wine)

    As you may recall, I got these tights for The Fiance to give to me for Christmas.  I had been thinking of what to wear them with since I bought them, and of course wanted to wear them the very first chance I got.  So I have paired them with this gray halter dress.  I bought it several years ago so that I could wear it to one of my sorority's functions and it has since been worn by at least 2 other girls.  My friends and I liked to share our collection of cute and affordable dresses so that none of us had to get a new dress every time we had a function.  Since I'm no longer in undergrad and don't have a need for fancy dresses and functions, this dress has been lingering in the back of my closet for a while.  That and the halter top doesn't fit my boobs anymore so I just haven't worn it.  

    A couple of months ago though, I wanted to make it into a skirt so I asked my neighbor the seamstress to turn it into a skirt.  She, however, was afraid that because of the material she would not be able to sew through it, so its still a dress.  That has not stopped me in the past from wearing a dress as a skirt if you will recall here, here and here.  So by layering a black tank and cardigan along with a slip to keep things decent, I have turned this dress that I haven't worn in ages into a really cute skirt that I would love to wear all the time.  (The only downside I see is that you can see the tie behind my neck and the halter top part creates bumps on my chest.  Going to have to figure out how to make it into a skirt eventually, even if it means hand-sewing an elastic waistband.) 

The Details: (in order of layering from closest to me outward)

Tights: L'Eggs Bordeaux microfiber tights

Slip

Black Tank: Old Navy

Dress:  Macy's in Puerto Rico

Cardigan: Sam's Club

Cordovan Heels: Aldo

Freshwater Pearl Earrings: Cathy 

P.S. How do you all feel about the new non-standard pics?  Any suggestions? 

Year-end Musings

    Given that 2009 ends this week and that I've been thinking a lot many things that have happened this year, I'm going to share with you all a little of what has happened in the Law School Fashionista household.  Since I'm a list maker by nature, I'll make it into a list.  

1. Chest Pain.  LOTS of Chest Pain.  I started 2009 hoping that my chest pain would just go away, but alas! it would not be so.  The pain returned, went away, and returned again.  Its now winding down some, but the pain itself wasn't the only bad part.  I also had to deal with the possibility that I might have had rheumatoid arthritis and all of the emotional turmoil that comes with the possibility of being diagnosed with an auto-immune disease.

2. Engagement!  The Fiance and I got engaged in August on the beach while in Puerto Rico.  It was beautiful and perfect and unexpected.  As you can tell from the picture, I was sweaty and gross and crazy happy and in love.  Our week in Puerto Rico might possibly be the highlight of my year.  With the engagement and being able to relax and just enjoy The Fiance's company while on a beautiful beach, it was just heaven. 

3. Bra Fitting.  Mid-September I went into Belk and had my boob life changed forever.  I was measured and put in a bra that actually fit!  Turns out I was wearing a bra that was about 3 sizes too small.  Its pretty great what a good actually fitting bra can do for your wardrobe and your outlook on life. 
4. The Blog.  I started this blog towards the end of September.  I wasn't sure I would keep with it, but like I explained here, writing a fashion blog has definitely changed my outlook on myself, my clothes and my style.  I'm very happy with my blog and hope that it continues to grow and make me happy.
5. The Puppy!  We got the puppy in early October and I immediately fell in love with her.  I imagine its the closest I'll get to falling in love with your child after birth until I actually give birth.  Except of course my baby is furry, can't talk, and will be under 2 ft tall forever. :)
6. Last Year!  In August I started my last year of law school.  This has been both exciting and terrifying.  Unfortunately the job market isn't so great, so rather than looking forward to being done with school, graduating, passing the bar and making money, I'm looking at a big black hole of uncertainty after I take the bar in late July.  I hope that I'll be to find a good job as an attorney sometime soon so that we can plan our life, but for now I'm trying to stay positive without worrying too much about what happens after the bar.

Overall, I've been pretty happy with 2009.  It has had its ups and downs, but I try to remember the best moments rather than dwell on the others.   What have been your big events of 2009?  Are you happy that 2010 is coming so soon so you can have a clean break?


P.S. Come back later this week for my hopes for 2010. 

Holiday Hangover

    I hope everybody had a great Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate).  We went to the (future) in-laws' on the 24th and came back yesterday.  We had a great time and enjoyed spending time with his parents and grandfather.  Unfortunately we weren't able to visit my parents in Puerto Rico this year, but we're hoping that we might be able to next Christmas.  At the very least, we'll go in August.  

    The Fiance and I decided about a month ago that Bella would be our X-mas gift to each other, so we weren't supposed to get each other gifts.  Fat chance.  I didn't want him to feel left out so I got him a pair of boxers and so he wouldn't feel bad that he didn't get me anything, I got him a pair of L'eggs Bordeaux microfiber tights for him to give to me.  Little did I know that he had gotten me a Moravian Star all on his own.  I also got some yummy vanilla body wash and body lotion from Bath & Body Works and some cash.  I'll be using the cash to give myself some X-mas gifts since I used the check my parents sent me to get The Fiance and his grandfather gifts.  I figure I deserve to get myself some stuff that I want, right?

  I'm thinking that I'll get this dress on the left from Old Navy in gray and black.    The dress I really wanted from Bravissimo is now gone, but I might order this coat in its place.  I might head to the mall to see if I can find a pair of knee high boots that fit my calves or look for more cute dresses.  
    One thing I've noticed since starting the blog is that I really want to wear dresses and skirts more often.  I appreciate the ease and comfort of a dress now way more than I did before.   In fact, there are a lot of things that have changed since I started blogging.  So here is my list of things I've learned/done since I've started blogging (all of 3 months ago)

1. I am more willing to take a chance on clothes.  Examples abound just from the past month: I would never have bought this dress, or bought and belted this one until I started reading and writing a fashion blog. 
2. I am more creative with clothes now.  I would never have thought to belt a sweater or rework dresses the way I did here and here until now.
3. I have also become more accepting of myself.  This one is kind of odd considering I have been taking pictures of myself and posting them online for the past 3 months.  But rather than let myself become hyper-critical, I have come to accept that this is the shape of my body and how I look.  If anyone really feels that that should change, its their own problem and not mine.
4. People on the internet can be very sweet and kind.  I have not once received a negative comment or email because of this blog.  People have been nothing but kind, caring and helpful.  I have "met" several bloggers that if it weren't for the distance, I would love to hang out, go to dinner and go shopping with them on a regular basis.  It really is wonderful to be connected to people from all over the world because of a fashion blog I started on a whim.  
5. Lastly (for now), I've also come to the conclusion that money does not equal style nor do you need a lot of money to be stylish.  Sure, it helps to have loads of discretionary spending money, but even without it, anyone with a little bit of effort and creativity can create stylish looks and a flexible wardrobe that lends itself to stylish outfits.   

That's it for now.  I'm going to continue enjoying my holiday weekend by cuddling on the couch with The Fiance.  Hope you have a good one!

Santa's little helper

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

    I wore this to work yesterday.  I knew I wanted to wear something Christmas-y, but I didn't have a Christmas sweater, so I improvised.  This outfit is a bit costume-y, but I like it.  In fact, 2 of my co-workers knew exactly why I was wearing this outfit despite the skirt being pink and not red.  (Just pretend I'm wearing my black heels in the pic.  I took them off upstairs and was too lazy to go get them for my pics. )

The Details:

Skirt: reworked H&M dress

Sweater: Gap

Tights: Target

Heels: Nine West

Belt: Old Navy 

Freshwater Pearls: Cathy

Winter Break (!!!)

    So I got home and sat down to blog and thought to myself, "you know I'm really tired but I really have to finish this so I can . . ." and then realized I didn't have anything to do!  And the angels rejoiced!  Which is sort of how I feel right now about not having stuff to do.  So this post will be super short.

    When figuring out what to wear, I knew I wanted to wear pants and somehow ended up with this outfit.  I thought of wearing black pants at first, but figured the brown blazer and the black pants would look odd, so I opted for gray instead.  

    I have some real issues with this shirt.  It's a really great striped print, but the fit is awful.  It fits my boobs, but because it's in no way fitted, it tents out from there.  So I really only wear it under sweaters or blazers.  I wonder if its worth it to get it tailored or just invest in already-tailored button downs.  
    Given that so much of this outfit was structured, I wanted to add a bit of whimsy.  I opted for my brand new earrings that I got from one of my co-workers Mike.  It turns out that her sister made them and I love them.  They have a red bead on top and a red and white swirly bead on the bottom.  

The Details:
Chocolate Blazer: Old Navy
Striped button down: Old Navy
Gray Pants: Gap
Cordovan heels: Aldo
Earrings: Mike's X-mas present to me (thanks Mike!)
Hair: Clever Clip 


P.S. I'm getting bored of just straightforward photos and will be trying out new ways to take pics of myself.  What do you guys think?

Dad

Happy Birthday Daddy!

<3, me

On why I love Target

    If you've been reading this blog for a bit or read through my archives, you will notice that I love Target.  A lot.  I'm not sure if its the price point or the styles or whats going on, but I have been finding a lot of good buys, particularly dresses, on the Target clearance racks and some of them are things I wouldn't wear normally, but for under $8, I'm willing to try them out anyway.  

    The dress I'm wearing today is the perfect example.  The print and colors, a bright blue and emerald green paisley on black background are gorgeous.  (The print reminds me of a warm evening in Sevilla with Arabic influences, good food, good wine and good company.)    However, shapewise, on the rack, and even on me, this dress is very flowy.  Which isn't bad, except that its flowy in places where I would rather it not be.  Like under my boobs.  While in the dressing room I thought, well, if I wear this with a belt, you'll be able to see my waist and it'll all be ok.  Kinda.  I got the dress home, tried it on with just a belt and as per the Fiance's description "It looks like the belt is holding up your boobs."  Obviously, I'm not thrilled with that description.  I need to figure out a way to wear this dress so that my boobs don't look like they hang down to my hips.  It's just not a cute look.

    What IS a cute look is the way I wore the dress today.  I know its cute because several of my co-workers told me that I looked cute today.  :)  Because its cold I layered a black cardigan over the dress and belted it and added black-gray ombre tights.  I'm really pleased with today's look and hope that I'll be able to figure out a way to make the dress cute without layering something over or it and avoiding the long boob look.  

    As a side note, many bloggers, in particular the ladies of Academichic and Sal of Already Pretty have mentioned that when it comes to thrift-store finds, they find it to be easier to go out of their comfort zone.  For me at least, I think that the low cost and the associated low risk make it easier to have flings with different styles of clothing or items so that if it fails or doesn't live up to your expectations, it's not a big a disappointment. 

Anybody have any suggestions on how to style this dress?  Do you take bigger risks or go outside of your comfort zone when the cost is low?

The Details:
Paisley Dress: Target Xhilaration brand
Black Cardigan: August Silk via Ross
Ombre Tights: Target
Pumps: Nine West
Boobs: Nine West

Still Here!

Hey guys---just wanted to let you know that I have survived the land of finals and snow.  I'll be posting a real post tonight but wanted to let you all know that I'm still alive.

Let is snow!

Let it snow! Let it SNOW!! LET IT SNOW!!!

(Picture of me at work super excited that its snowing outside)

    Unless you've been living under a rock, in which case Hi! welcome back!, you know that there has been a massive snow storm all over the Eastern U.S.  Let me just remind you now that I grew up in Miami, Florida, we didn't get snow EVER.  So when it does snow, I am essentially an 8 year old.  And its AWESOME!!!  
    Knowing it would be super cold yesterday, I put on several light layers, which included wearing tights under pants that are too big for me and layering a light pink sweater over a black button down.  (Apparently there is a good reason to have pants that are too big.)  I was thinking of a cool way to layer a sweater and button down and remembered what What Would a Nerd Wear said in this post about wanting to layer unexpected items.  So rather than doing something expected, I figured a light pink sweater over a black button down would be different. Unfortunately, the aforementioned snow is the reason why there are no super cute pictures of me in my layers.  By the time I got home there were several inches of snow on the ground so rather than parking my car in our garage, I left it at the top of our driveway in case there's an emergency and we need to get out.  (Didn't want to run the risk of getting stuck in the garage, at the bottom of the driveway, behind our gate, etc)  What I can offer you though are several pictures and video of Bella running in the snow, the snow falling while I was at work, and what our house looks when it snows.   




(Please forgive me for the overabundance of exclamation points and caps---I'm just *THAT* excited.  (!!!)) 

She's a little bit country. . .

    I posted about this dress earlier this week when I wore it in Orlando for Evie's rehearsal dinner.  When The Fiance wanted to go to the mall to find a Christmas present for his mom, I decided to see how well the dress winter-izes.  We were successful in finding his mom a X-mas present and I feel like I succeeded with winterizing the dress. I added a light sweater, tights and boots to keep me warm.  I also added this great tan studded suede belt, to define my waist.  The belt definitely gave me a country feel (hence the title).  The belt was originally meant to be worn low on the hips, which is how I wore it the first and only other time I've worn it.  Belting low on my hips just doesn't work for me.  I hadn't thought to wear this as a waist-defining belt, but tried it on while getting dressed and discovered that the belt tightens enough to be worn at my waist.  The other advantage of belting the dress is that it makes it way more customizable than I thought it would be when I bought it.  Yay!

The Details:

Purple Dress: Target

Cream Sweater: Ann Taylor Loft

Ombre tights: Target

Boots: Candie's 



(P.S. This is my 100th post!) 

New Coat!

      Let me tell you about this new coat.  (Don't worry, I didn't spend a single penny.)  Last night my good friend Melanie (hi!) came over so we could exchange gifts.  Apart from her X-mas present to me, she also gave me this coat.  She had originally bought it for herself with the intention of down-sizing it for herself as a way to get a cute coat and practice her sewing skills.  Well, to my delight she didn't tackle the project and offered me the coat.  It fit my boobs (woot!) so she gave it to me.  The coat has a lot of great details like the Mandarin collar, the gorgeous lining, and several pockets that I love.  Plus its hot pink!  So of course I decided to wear it today.  

   I also wore this gorgeous jewel-toned green sweater.  Its kind of surprising that I got it from Forever 21 years ago and its actually lasted me quite a while. I especially love the neckline.  It gives me a neck without exposing my chest.  I wanted to add a necklace to the outfit, so rather than matching the green, I went for a purple necklace instead.  I finished the outfit with these great heels.  They're the only pair of pointy shoes that I can bear to wear all day and are still comfortable.   

The Details:
Sweater: Forever 21
Pants: Gap
Shoes: Aldo
Necklace: Target
Coat: Misty Harbor Ltd by way of Melanie
Scarf: no idea   

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

LOVE YOU!

Closet Shopping Challenge

    I have been reading the blog, The Girl Who by Monica for a while now.  When she posted about her Little Black Dress Challenge, I became intrigued.  She will be wearing one dress, an LBD (little black dress), everyday for 6 months.  In the process she will be raising money to get herself out of debt and donate the other half to a local (to her) animal shelter.  If I had the ability, I would sponsor her on this great endeavor.  There is nothing harder than getting yourself out of debt and if you need to challenge yourself in order to do it, I'm all for it.  Plus, helpless animals will get to benefit too.    
    So, how does this affect THIS blog?  Well, I will be graduating law school in May with about $150,000 worth of debt.  Yes, that's a HUGE amount, but I see it as an investment.  It is an investment for my future and I will happily pay for it.  In addition, I'm theoretically planning a wedding.  The problem with that, however, is the serious lack of funding.  Weddings are expensive endeavors.  Inspired by Monica, I will be doing my own money saving challenge, but rather than wearing the same little black dress for 6 months, I will shop my closet for all of next semester.  That means no buying clothes for myself.  In order to make this livable, I will have an exception for interview/job search related expenses as well as major special occasion related expenses.  I'm not 100% of any other conditions since I came up with this idea yesterday.  For example, I don't know if I'll include accessories on the list of no shopping at this point.  I also don't know if I'll have sponsors or what I'll do if I don't make it the whole semester or if I should incorporate a charity.  But whatever I decide to include or not include, the point is that I want to save money, avoid accumulating more debt, be environmentally conscious and be creative.

Anybody have any thoughts or suggestions or ideas on how to make this work?  Anybody want to join in or sponsor me on this craziness?   

Rehearsal Dinner

     So, as you may have realized, I spent the whole weekend away from the Blogging Universe.  In fact, I spent it away from my normal life, as my bestfriend Evelyn, got married this Saturday, Dec. 12.  I had the honor of being a bridesmaid and really enjoyed being there for both her and Greg on their wedding day.   She looked beautiful and giggled throughout the whole day and Greg was beaming at her.  I am so happy for them and glad to welcome Greg into our crazy extended family.  I'm going to see if I can scrounge up some pictures from the wedding to show you all exactly what I mean.

    But before there could be a wedding, there had to be a rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  And some shopping to figure out what to wear to the dinner.  So last Thursday, after an exam, I stopped by Target to see if I could find a cute top on sale that I could pair with a skirt or nice pants.  I found something much better.  This purple wrap shirt dress was on clearance for $7.58. (!!!)  I of course tried it on and loved it and took it with me to Orlando and wore it to the rehearsal.  As you can tell, it was warm enough for me to wear a short sleeved dress without tights or a shirt underneath, so instead of taking my knee high boots, I paired the dress with some nude heels.  In addition, Evie is making a guest appearance today.  She looked absolutely adorable in this dress and was super excited to be part of my blog.  (She kept telling everyone in the bridal party to follow me!) 

The Details:

Me: 

Purple Dress: Target

Pink Tank: Old Navy

Nude Shoes: Nine West

Evie:

Dress: Black House White Market

P.S. sorry for the horrid angle of the pics.  I didn't take my tripod with me so I had to improvise by putting my camera on a table that was way too low.

Busy Busy Busy!!!

Hey everyone---I'm super duper extra busy right now with exams and having just come back from Evie's wedding.  I promise to post sometime in the next few days and read everyone's blog posts too. 

LUNCH!

    The Fiance came home early Wednesday afternoon and decided to take me to a late lunch.  Rather than going from boring sweats to boring jeans, I mixed things up.  Thanks to my lovely neighbor Grace, this dress is now a skirt.  I decided to pair it with this great gray sweater which is super warm.  The problem, as you can see, is that its too long which makes my legs look super short.  To remedy the situation, I tried belting it thus creating a well defined waist and well defined upper and lower body. 
    Since I decided to go the creative route with my outfit, I also did the same with my purse.  I've been using a big gray purse as of late and since my stuff was already out of my purse I decided to go ahead and take a different purse with me.  This purse was a gift from a cousin a few years ago and I love it.  It's too small to use daily, but for events or nice lunches with The Fiance, its perfect.  
    How do  you switch things up to keep them from getting boring?

The Details:

Gray sweater: Gap

Pink Tank: Old Navy

Skirt: H&M via Grace's wonderful work
Belt: H&M  
Tights: Target

Boots: Xhilaration 
Purse: gift

Cool Belt. . .

That belt from this post is from McDonald's in Spain. 

Pink Flowers

    A couple months ago I walked into a consignment shop and fell in love with this jacket.  It's a hot pink floral pattern, what's not to love?  The black edging just adds to its snazziness.  I had my neighbor shorten the sleeves and she did an amazing job and was able to reincorporate the black edging.  Did I mention the hot pink flowers?  
   I've been wanting to wear this blazer for a while now, but didn't know with what to wear it.  I figured out that in order to balance out the blazer's boxy shape I should pair it with some wide leg pants.  You can't tell in the pic, but they are pinstripe pants.  I couldn't figure out what top to wear under the jacket and finally came up with a solution that is out of the box and unexpected.  It's a men's undershirt!  How's that for unexpected?  The pointy shoes rounded it out in hopes that they would elongate my legs.  All in all, this outfit made me pretty happy, as you can see below.   
    My only concern though is that the blazer seems a bit matronly, with its boxy shape (as opposed to being fitted) and the black edging (which I love).  What do you guys think: matronly or has exam stress made me nuts?

The Details:

Blazer: 

Pinstripe pants: The Gap

Black pumps: Aldo

Gray shirt: Fruit of the Loom men's undershirt

Necklace: Smoky quartz from Cathy

VS Wrap

Blogging is going to wear a GIGANTIC hole in my bank account---

I really want this wrap/cardigan like woah!

Mad Me?

 Image from AMC: http://blogs.amctv.com/photo-galleries/gallery-photography-for-mad-men-season-3/joan.php

 

I have heard all sorts of wonderful things about Mad Men.  At this point, I really want to watch it, I just need to find the time and DVDs.  What I *can* do for now though, is admire the clothes.  In particular those belonging to Joan Holloway.  You see, she is a gorgeous curvy woman that isn't afraid of her curves.  Its taken me a while to figure this out, but I think my body type is very similar to hers.  After reading this post by A of The Glamourous Grad Student, I went digging through my closet to see if I could find anything Joan-eque.  What I came up with was the skirt from my interview suit.  I absolutely love this suit, but until today (Saturday), it didn't occur to me to really love the skirt as a high waisted pencil skirt. 
So, what do you guys think?  Is this Joan-esque? Does it work on me the same way it does on her? (Be honest, you won't hurt my feelings) 

The Details:

Gray top: H&M

Navy Skirt: Nine West suit

Heels: Aldo

Necklace: Banana Republic Outlet 



As an aside--I asked The Fiance what he thought about this outfit.  His response, "It shows off your curves." <3 him! 

Let's find a cure

    So, The Fiance sent me this video about 30 mins ago. What  impresses me the most is that these people took the time and energy to willingly feel and look silly in hopes of getting the message across about breast cancer education and awareness.  

    I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but in undergrad, I was in a sorority.  (Normally I don't volunteer such information because of the ridiculous and erroneous portrayal of sorority women in our culture.)  Anyway, the reason I mention the sorority is that our philanthropy is breast cancer education and awareness.  I ended up joining the sorority in hopes of making a difference, and we did.  I helped start our annual philanthropy event in which we got a beat up car, painted it pink and sold tickets so people could smash it with a sledgehammer.  (Awesomely fun)  We managed to raise $5,000 in our first year just by selling tickets and t-shirts.  

    In addition, my best friend from Undergrad lost her grandmother to breast cancer and The Fiance's grandmother lost her battle with lung cancer.  Cancer sucks.  I hope this video makes you want to do something about it.  If so, here is a link to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  There are also many many many other foundations out there that would love your help.  I hope this video touches you the way it touched me.

Once bitten, Twice shy

    The last time I wore this dress, I looked at the pictures after posting them and realized that the dress didn't look so cute the way I wore it or the way the pictures were taken.  Of course, that meant that I haven't worn the dress since then.  Thursday , however, I decided to be brave and try the dress again.  There are several things I changed this time around that I think made a difference. 

    The first is something you can't see even if you tried to look really hard.  I wore a slip under the dress.  I realized after wearing this dress a few times, that jersey is way too clingy to wear without a slip. So now I own 2 slips, a full slip and a skirt slip, as a result.   Another thing I did differently this time around is the belt over the dress.  Looking at this outfit, it makes me really happy that I bought this belt in the first place.  I wasn't sure I would like the idea of belting things at the waist, but I (now) most definitely do.  
    The last change was the different shirt under the dress.  I don't know if you can tell through pictures, but the V is so low that I absolutely *must* wear something underneath this dress so the girlies don't hang out.  I'm  not sure if it was the color or the flimsiness of the long t-short I wore last time, but I'm not 100% sold on wearing it again under this dress.  So I had to find a new one to wear.  I went digging through a bag of old clothes that I was going to give to Goodwill, when I found this sweater.  It is a 3/4 sleeve length cream sweater that fits too tight to my body for me to wear it as a sweater, but as a layering piece it worked really well.  Because its form fitting I didn't have to worry about it riding up under the dress and creating funny lines.  I then added the Turquoise coconut shell necklace that Debby gave me this past summer for some color, tights and boots for warmth and I felt complete.    
    Comparing the two outfit shots, I really liked that I added the belt.  The first time around it felt like the only interesting parts of the outfit were the necklace and boots, whereas this time around there are different things that are interesting from top to bottom.  I also like that I changed up  the color of the shirt under the dress.  I think the dark shirt could work, but this one probably worked better.  Overall, I think the reason I like this dress this time around is a matter of proportions and accessories.  Things just sort of worked better.       
    Do you tend to shy away from certain pieces if you don't wear them well the first time around? How do you talk yourself into trying them again? And how do you make them work the second time around?

The Details:

Brown Dress: Banana Republic Outlet

Cream Sweater: American Eagle

Brown Tights: Merona control top opaque tights

Belt: Target

Necklace: Gift from Debby

Boots: Candies

Cool Belt from Monday

You'll never guess where I got this belt, in fact, please do.  I'll tell you the answer tomorrow (or the next time I remember to get on here).  
Anyway, I was digging through my closet and found these olive green corduroy pants.  Given that they're a size 12 and I'm NOW sort of a 12/14, I haven't been able to wear them in a while.  Well, when I tried them on, they fit, but fit too short.  I let the hem out and used some iron-on tape to redo the hem.  In figuring out what to wear with the cords, I remembered that this canvas belt has some olive green and built the rest of the outfit around it.  I added the black sweater for warmth because it was 31F when I went to walk Bella yesterday morning.  
Do you find yourself composing outfits based on an accessory?  

The Details:

Green Corduroy pants: The Gap

Red Top: Express

Black Angora Sweater: The Gap

Boots: Nine West

Belt: ???